I caught up with the fantastic Steve Wrigley and the wonderful Justine Smith at The Classic after the first Raw Comedy night of 2012. Below are the transcripts of the conversation. The audio for this (despite the hilarity that ensued) probably won’t be made available, due to the amount of stuff I’d have to censor, due to incriminating stories told, poor jokes on my part, and inside information mentioned.

Don’t forget, you can find Jussi and Steve, with Dai Henwood’s podcast HERE.

Read More →

Tonight’s MC, Billy T award nominee Guy Williams comes down onto the stage to a rather quiet, and vacant room at the classic. His energy reflecting that which he’d like to see from the crowd, rather than the response he was receiving. An interesting heckler (possibly on his first night, much like many of the comedians present), by the name of Kase, or Kane, bought himself to the attention of the room with heckles probably pulled from a third former’s guidebook.

The first two acts were absolutely fantastic, certainly showing a lot of potential. I can honestly say the first time I’ve ever seen someone literally steal the show from the MC. A fantastic example of two people with a lot of comedic potential, which were quickly followed by the first (and by no means last) poo jokes of the evening, bought to us by a lovely comedienne who’d done a few sets a while back, but this was her first stage time in a long time, and her experience, and understanding of the formulation of the joke was blatantly obvious. Her mothering experience bought back painful memories of how many wooden spoons were broken over my arse in my younger days.

Later in the evening came a budding comedian who bought out stories from his life, and for the first time I’ve ever seen, bought a story to the stage, that was something that happened to him when he was at another comedian’s show, in the audience.

Eventually, just before the end of the first half, the room seemed to warm up, and began responding to the seventh comedian of the night, who managed to illicit some of the best laughs of the night.

After the break we had another six two comedians. The first two had difficulty getting much reaction from the audience, including one who managed to bring material outlining the differences between cats and dogs, which didn’t manage to get much of a response from the assembled crowd.

Then came on a comedian who managed to bring an energy that immediately made me think of Jan Maree, a comedian who grabbed the audience’s attention with a trick, or a tactic that caught them off guard. I didn’t get a chance to speak to this guy after the show, to find out if it was intentional or not. If this gentleman intentionally bought this to the table to grab the audience’s attention, very well done on his part. If it was a fluke, I hope he runs with it, and learns the power of it.

Overall a very interesting night of RAW comedy:

• I got to see exactly the impact that the audience’s mood has on a show. And no matter how good the MC is, if the room doesn’t want to warm up, then the comedians following him or her, had better be ready for an icy dunk.
• I got to see my first ever scat based Elvis parody artist.
• I learned how Heath Franklin’s Chopper signs autographs.
• I was reminded of just how a handcrafted gift to your mother can be used to inflict pain
• And most importantly, I know that some of the faces I saw that night  have the potential to be the future of NZ comedy.

Bring on next week!

Note: You can find the details on this year’s RAW Comedy’s final here: http://www.facebook.com/events/372774586075721/

I caught up with the beautiful Irene Pink last Friday at The Classic. Here’s a scary photo of us. Read more below to see the Interview.

Read More →

Monday 13 February. The classic. The lights go down. Boycie drops the lights and brings up the music introducing the MC for the night – Steve Wrigley. The room breaks into applause. Steve Wrigley comes on stage…

I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was the first night I’d ever been to see Raw Comedy. I’ve been to more Friday and Saturday gigs than I can remember. Even a fair number of Wednesday night gigs. I was excited to see some new faces perform. I have to admit, the sadist in me was looking to see a few colossal bombs, and I was hoping to see some mediocre gear.

Read More →

I caught up with Rhys on Thursday Night at the Northern Steamship for a couple of drinks and some chips. It was a 25 minute chat, filled with failed attempts at comedy on my part. I’ve trimmed a lot of it out of the transcript, but if you do want a copy of the audio, I’ll release all the interviews I’ve done, at the end of the festival. You can also flick me an email – comedy@24daysofgiggles.com and I’ll see if I can email it through.

A few facts about Rhys

• He took part in Class Comedians at the tender age of 16
• Voted 2009 Best Newcomer - NZ Comedy Guild Awards
• Voted 2009 Best Newcomer - NZ International Comedy Festival
• Nominated for 2010 Best Male Comedian - NZ Comedy Guild Awards
• Inducted into Classic’s “Wall of Fame” in 2010 at The Classic’s 13th Birthday Celebration
• 2010 Billy T Award winner, NZ International Comedy Festival against Jarred Fell, Clayton Carrick-Leslie, Vaughan King and TJ McDonald

Read More →

Today on Twitter David O’Doherty announced he’ll be coming to Wellington and Auckland.

Tour dates on his Myspace page indicate 5 nights in Wellington (downstage theatre) and one in Auckland (Q Theatre).

Surprisingly little information is available yet, hence the small blog, but thought I’d give you a heads up : )

I’m sure more info will come to light closer to the time. And I will be doing all I can to get an interview with him.

Recommended Links:

http: //www.davidodoherty.com/links.htm

http: //www.myspace.com/phlaimeaux

I recently caught up with Improv Warrior Wade Jackson, a name you might recognise from the Improv Bandits, Shu Ha Ri, Covert Theatre, or Jolt. An incredibly busy man, who spared a few moments to talk to me about his Comedy experience.

Read More →

So last night I get a very exciting email breaking some very exciting news about this year’s Comedy Festival. A great, and internationally renowned NZ Comedian who has induced giggling, and caused people to laugh so hard that just a little wee came out, Rhys Darby, is coming back to perform in his first NZ International Comedy Festival for 6 years.

If you haven’t ever heard of Rhys Darby, here are a few credentials:

• Former Soldier
• One half of Rhysently Granted
• Billy T Award nominee 2002 and 2003
• Edinburgh Fringe Performer
• Brian Nesbit from Flight of the Conchords
• TV Star
• The face of 2Degrees Mobile
• Intrepid Journey-er
• Co-Director of Awesomeness International
• Greenpeace Climate Ambassador
• Father

Quite the resume!

So what do we have to look forward to from this Comedy show? Not only do we get to bask in the genius of this legendary representative of NZ Comedy, This loosely autobiographical show accompanies the release of this debut novel of the same name. Hear how Darby went from meek geek to ‘King of Cool’ and his plan for impending Armageddon.

Pre-sales for all shows start at 9am Thursday 2 February and end at 5pm Friday 3 February.

General on sale starts on Tuesday 7 February.

Don’t miss out!

Tour Dates
 

Hawkes Bay Opera House
Tues 1 May at 8pm
Supported by Adam Ethan Crow (SA/UK)
Book online at Ticketek

New Plymouth - TSB Showplace 
Wed 2 May at 8pm (Ticketmaster)
Supported by Adam Ethan Crow (SA/UK)
Book online at TicketMaster

Wellington - The Opera House
Thurs 3 - Sat 5 May at 8pm 
Supported by Adam Ethan Crow (SA/UK)
Book online at Ticketek

Auckland - SKYCITY Theatre
Tues 8 - Sat 12 May, 8pm

Supported by Steve Hughes (AUS)
Book online at Ticketek

So, this time the Comedy Festival rolls around in April. Looking back to last year, I’m remembering the great shows I saw on opening Night: Clayton Carrick-Leslie in Fantasmagorical, and Rhys Mathewson Is Fun. 

I remember seeing the excitement of opening night, coupled with the fear in the eyes of the performer as they combine new routines, and the relief in their eyes as they get their first laugh of the night, which only gets superseded by the joy on their face as their first hour of the festival wraps up, and they realised that they’ve done it. They’ve performed a show, usually solo, and they haven’t bombed. 

Now, I’m not a comedian, and I’m not a critic. I don’t have the balls for stand-up, and because I’ve never performed comedy, I feel I have absolutely no right at all to judge those who do. I am however, an early to mid-twenties male, who likes a good laugh, and loves the opportunity to support NZ Comedy. That, of course, is not to say that I don’t enjoy international comedy as well. 

This year’s comedy festival contains the best line up yet. Of course, there are the nominees for the Billy T award:

• Tom Furniss
• Rose Matafeo
• Tevita Manukia
• TJ McDonald and 
• Guy Williams. 

There are some comedians you’d recognise from TV, and some who aren’t as well known, but in some cases are more hilarious. 

As a lover of comedy in NZ, there is very little I haven’t seen, and very little I don’t like. And it’s my aim this year, to go to at least one show per night, and then to bring you back some feedback on the shows themselves. I also am aiming to attend all the major shows like the Best of the Billys, both of which will contain fantastic comedy from some of New Zealand’s past winners of the Billy T award, and the  like the Last Laugh, in which case all nominees for the Billy T award, the Raw award, and the Fred perform, and have their winners announced, among many other award winners.

I will definitely be seeing each of the Billy T Nominees’ shows during their runs. I’ll not be going to their first, or last shows, but somewhere in the middle of their season, and I’ll be posting my opinions of their shows on here. I will not, however, be posting my opinions on who I should win this prestigious award. That decision is reserved for some people who have been in the industry a very long time, and know what they’re talking about. 

I’m also going to have a Comedy Festival 2012 T-Shirt that I’m going to take to every gig with me. I’m going to try to get it signed by as many comedians as possible during the festival. Maybe I’ll do something special with it at the end :)

So, to all the performers this year: I wish you good luck. 

To all those spectators out there, I really hope you enjoy this festival. 

Cheers!

Yvan

Comedy Festival Homepage